Abortion
Abortion
December 13, 2023
This essay is from the 1970 era and which I posted in a local newspaper. Any major edits are bracketed { }. This subject is a very delicate one to discuss, often misunderstood, and often has overly emotional reactions. Responses are often of the knee jerk variety without any sensitivity to exploring all the facts and all of what is said. I haven’t read this for nearly 50 years, and I am expecting significant edits…
Everyone has regrets, because our hindsight is better than our foresight. However, God wants to set us free from condemnation and guilt. {so that we can begin to think clearly and begin to heal from the consequences of what the Bible refers to as sin.}
Notwithstanding all that, “sin,” as I use it, simply means “doing harm,” and God is the one who thoroughly understands the conditions for what causes the harm. He is not a harsh dictatorial tyrant. He created everything, knows how everything works, and He has set the guideposts for our healthful walk in this life — how to live with ourselves and how to live with others.
Unfortunately, we ignore many of them and get ourselves into trouble. We make a mess of everything in Creation.
Those guideposts are found in the Bible, and they are woven into the lives of real people living in real times and in real situations. They are portrayed nakedly, warts and all, in their recorded history, including both their successes and their failures, and notably, it is written down for the benefit of everyone.
Let’s try to learn from them.}
{Now, as a man, automatically, I am at a disadvantage, because I lack the intimate knowledge and any profound understanding of everything involved in the entire process of pregnancy — neither the effects on a woman’s mind, nor her body, nor her emotions of the inward perceptions, nor any personal considerations of the woman who has to navigate through it all. and I am both a father and a grandfather.}
Since God wants the healing process to begin within us, it makes no sense to run away from Him or to hide behind some fig leaves. If any of us choose to confront our situation, no matter how ugly we think it might be, if we would humble ourselves enough to seek God’s mercy and grace, Jesus can set us free and give us a fresh start by giving us forgiveness and life anew…
Now, some have claimed that before birth, a baby is part of a woman’s anatomy. Though I disagree, it seems to be an unsettled debate. On the other hand, there are anatomical parts that are undeniably hers. {I’ll say another undeniable thing, the fetus is certainly not a tumor to be treated as such.}
If only women would be a little wiser, coloring the “free spirit” philosophy with a little practicality, that would mean, chastity, then she wouldn’t have to decide whether a baby is a baby or not.
A man cannot escape ultimate responsibility, either. {I know from the story in the Garden of Eden, with God, Adam tried to push all the blame onto Eve, but I don’t believe God went for it.} Unless the father of the child is so detestably twisted that he despises his own flesh and blood, why not shoulder the responsibility with a little pride? {I guess we all know the answer to that: because he is, in fact, detestably and selfishly twisted.}
I mean to ask, how can a man not want his own child?
A pastor of mine once said, “You begin to see the real you when the pressures are on.” Life is tough — sometimes tougher than we can bear. Yet God is there through it all, and if we choose to let Him, He will use the hard things to develop our character {and will help to pull us through the muck and mire we have walked into.}
Perhaps you are in the uncomfortable position of an “unwanted pregnancy.” Panic usually makes things worse, because of our instinctive “fight or flight” reaction. The government might — and probably should — give financial support, {but do you really want them in control of your body? These days women don’t want that decision anywhere near the politicians and their quid pro quo demands. That’s what doctors are for. Yet, might you want to have a higher, more knowledgeable Counselor by your side?}
{To conclude, I certainly would like the government to provide funding for births, and not just that but for prenatal and postnatal care. Also, there are some Christian lay counselors who “have looked at clouds from both sides now” and will not accuse and condemn, but will defend you and recommend what they have learned from their experience.}
Choose life.
Choose all life.
Choose the entirety of life, from birth to death.
Jesus is reaching a hand out for you, so you
all can discover eternal life.
(…but that’s a separate subject…)
Below is an online site with the results of a study on the reasons why women get abortions, and any minimally intelligent person could think of effective solutions to marginalize those reasons without marginalizing individuals. But, as always, it’s a matter of choice, of choosing by individuals, from both sides of what they have made into a divisive political issue, rather than a compassionate, sympathetic, or appropriate humane consideration. The starting point, in my opinion, would be to first get our minds right — right with Humanity and right with God.
